Meta-analysis of the effectiveness and safety of Shenyankangfu tablets combined with losartan potassium in the treatment of chronic glomerulonephritis

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review of the efficacy and safety of Shenyankangfu tablets in combination with losartan potassium in the treatment of chronic glomerulonephritis. METHOD: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, and WeiPu for comparative studies on Shenyankangfu tablets in combination with losartan potassium in the treatment of chronic glomerulonephritis. The search period runs from the establishment of the database until September 2021. Data extraction and quality evaluation were carried out on the documents that met the inclusion criteria, and a meta-analysis of the included literature was conducted using the RevMan5.3 software. RESULTS: A total of 17 randomized controlled trials that met the inclusion criteria were included, with a total sample size of 1680 patients (841 patients in the study group and 839 in the control group). The effective rate was significantly higher in the study group than in the control group [RR = 1.22, 95% CI (1.16, 1.27), P < 0.00001]. In addition, 24-hour urine protein levels [SMD = -1.11, 95% CI (-1.40, -0.83), P < 0.00001], urine NAG enzyme [SMD = -0.99, 95% CI (-1.27, -0.72), P < 0.00001], leukotactin-1 [SMD = -2.43, 95% CI (-3.50, -1.35), P < 0.00001], and the incidence of adverse reactions [RR = 0.43, 95% CI (0.28, 0.66), P < 0.00001] were lower in the study group when compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: It is safer to treat chronic glomerulonephritis with Shyenyankangfu tablets in combination with losartan potassium. At the same time, it alleviates disease-related symptoms, reduces the influence of cytokine levels, and has fewer adverse reactions, making it more conducive to disease recovery. However, additional multi-center, randomized, control trials with large sample sizes must be conducted to confirm the findings.